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A HEATED CONTROVERSY.
Divine Healers in Wilkes, N. C.
Daughter Does a Trance
Feature.
Charlotte Observer.
"You ought to be in the state of
Wilkes,'' said a travelin- man to an
Observer reporter, yesterday.
"'What's doing in that neck of
the woods?"
"They are entertaining the divine
healers. Yes, sir, over at Moravian
Fal's, where R. Don Laws edits his
Yellow Jacket, they have had warm
times. A Rev. Mr. and a Rev. Mrs.
Etter and their adopted daughter, at
least that is what they say she is, are
dividing the people of that country
into hostile camps, the divine healers
and their disciples and the antis, who
are led by Rev. Perdue. the Baptist
of Moravian Falls. Mr. and Mrs. Et
ter, especially the latter, do the
preaching and Miss Etter is the
trance artist. They have just closel
a three weeks' meeting at Moravian
Falls and will begin a protraeu-d
preaching at Wilkesboro this week.
Heals the Sick, the Halt and the Blind
"The girl is the met interesiL
one of the trio. She heals the sick,
the halt and the blind. One man,
who had not seen out of (ne eye for
years, came from awn baek in thc
mountains and the youn.- n oman m 01
him see. !L came c Maravian
Falls with an cye band:_ed ind shad
ed by a blue glass but before he left
after consuiting the girl. he threw
away his e!ntls and hij glasses and
went his wav rejoicinz. - map. who
had been ill f-.,r month< was cured A
lumberman who had b.xn caught un
der a log and mashed wq, made snAnd
again. He -.e on crut hes but wen
away using I * legs.
"These l:.rgs have stirred the
mountain dw; hers as nuthing has dvae
for years. ,reat crowz flocked to
hear and see and consult the divine
healers. Those that go and are not
eured are .smissed as men and w(,
men of no faith. 0-te fellow, w;ln
has suffered for years with rheuma
tism, was told to cast aside his sticks
and walk. He obeyed, but before he
had gone far he wa; token with -
pain in the small of the back m.i
cried for his .rutches. This case, the
young worce said. ws hoipeless be
cause the :man had but l''tle faith.
Women go Into Trances.
"Why, man I wish you e.':d have
sbeen' there when the meeting was in
full blast. A number of girls went
into a trance,there one night and fell
upon the stand where they remained
till morning. The healers stayed
,vith them until they came to and were
able to return to their homes. These
young people, it was claimed, had
seen the spirit th-rough the medium of
the adopted daughter.
"I was there that evening for the
serivce and saw a good part of what
took place.
"Mrs. Etter did the preaching. She
is a woman of considerable size, and
sense. She reminds me of some fat,
portly inn keeper that I have seen
on my rounds. Her voice is sharp
land strong and her tongue limber.
There is no hesitancy in her speech.
She rattles right along.
"On this particular night, when in
the midst of her sermon, she was in
terrupted by her husband, who sat
by and as she turned, the girl-Miss
Etter, I guess they call her, rose and
began to wall her eyes and twiteh her
fingers. A deathlike silence fell on
'the congregation. As the girl straight
ened to her full height her face be
eaine pale and sad looking. While
the crowd held its breath she began
to speak and it is said that she used
seven different languages. How true
this claim is I cannot say, but Don
Laws,. who is a man of learning and
-wisdom, thinks that that particular
claim has been exaggerated a little as
be listened closely one night when it
was claimed that she gave tongue to
four of the seven and he was unable
to distinguish but two.'' ..
"What seven does she pretend to
use? was asked.
"I don't know, 'but one of them is
African: I know of no such language.
I have heard of the Afighanistan ton
gue but of no down right African1
speech. The negroes in this country
use the same language that the whites
do.
"But, anyway, she gibbered in
something that I could not under
stand. It she is not the real thing she
can 'aet well her part. I looked at
her in amazement that day. When
she beg&' .to go into the trance the
preaching stopp2d. And, I found that
she was the chief attraction. The
preaching is ordinary, but her stunt
is a feature.
Trouble Arose in the Town. .
"But there arose discord in the lit
tle village over the Etters. As I said
in the beginning the population took
sides. After the meetin~g had gone
on for sometime and many had pro
fessed conversion Rev. Mr. Perdue,
the Baptist minister of that commun
itv. wrOt, it piece ior the Chronicle
of Wilke:.boro. saying Itliat hlie had
searched his Bible but could find no
authority for woman's preaching. He
saw no place where she had been com
manded to preach.
"R. Don Laws took up the battle
for the divine healers and made re
ply to tihe minister throvzh The Pat
riot. He contended that Mr. Perd-ue
was wrong and cited quotations from
the Bible to prove it. He argued,
that, if a woman could not preach the
churches should quit sending them as
missionaries to foreign fields.
"The controversy aroused the peo
ple to white heat. Everybody was
expect'ant.
"The following Sunday after Don
Laws' piece came out, Rev. Mr. Per
due got up in his pulpit, with a Pa
triot in his hand, and gave Laws a
thorough going over. He took the
editor's contribution as a text ,and de
livered a spirited lecture. In closing
he declared that if any one would
show him in the Bible where woman
was commanded to preach he would
throw his Word of God in the ocean.
"The Etters and Don Laws were
present and heard this sermon. Mrs.
Etters punctuated Mr. Purdue's re
marks with enthusiastic 'amens,'
much to the surprise of all, for 'amen'
enerally means 'I agree with you.'
Don and Mrs. Etter Make Reply.
"I know Don Laws and when I
leard that the preacher had taken
iim to task that he would hear from
im in return. I was right. That same
afternoon the healers had a meeting
at which Laws and Mrs. Etter spoke.
Kfrs. Etter went after Preacher Per
Jue with gloves off. She argued
that he did not know what he was
alking about. Laws said that he had
been misrepresented by the minister.
"It has been a war of words and
after each attack the camps -have been,
iriven farther apart. I am anxious to
know that will happen at Wilkesboro
before the month is over. From
Wilkesboro the Etters go back into
the mountains where they will preach
during August.
"About the last and only thing I
ever heard of Mr. Etter doing was to
instruct some of their disciples how,
to take up private collection for the
trio. He told him to ask for $10 and
if he couldn't get that take $5 or
even $2.50.'
"One thing you did not make clear"''
said the reporter. "What does Mrs.
Etter do while the girl is in a
rance."
"W;hy, she just stands there and
fans her.''
REVISING LISTS.
Opinion by Attorney General in
Barnwell Case.-Strong Letter
Written by Minister.I
Columbia State.
Attorney General Lyon-has written
Gov. -Ansel an opinion on the right
of a comnmunity to compel a county
board of registration to revise the
books containing the names of the
qualified voters.
Th erse came up fr.im Bairnwel
ounty, where a petition is being cir-I
culated to permit a vote on the dis
pensary question. and it was claimed
by those who circulated the petition
that the necessary one-fourth of the~
names had been secured, but the fact
that the books have not been revised
in 13 years gave a Lo"l of .wecr 5.000
names. Of these! about one-third were
really voters, the rest having died or
moved away.
Mr. Lyon states that the acts of
1902 provide that the registration.
books shall be revised 10 days before
each election and the fact that this
'ad not been do,ne ;n 11 years would
make an. action of mandamus pro
eedings lie.
One of the interesting letters re
eived from Barnwell county was the
following from Rev. C. W. Garner,
rastor of the Baptist church in Barn
well, and a mover of the petition:
"In accordance with the Carey
Cothran act we filed with the super
visor of Barnwell county petitions
ontaining 817 names for an election
on the dispensary question.
"The supervisor has declined up to
date to call the election, owing to the
:ondition of the registration boo0ks.
Ivir looked into the condition of
the books we find that there has been
1!o revien for the pa:: 11 yars. Tife
names of all voters who have died or
moved away still appear and other
names and a great many of them ap
pear from two to five times.
"In addition to these facts the
present registration board have been
registering negroes, who, to our cer
tain knowledge, are disqualified, have
been issuing certificates out of office
hours and have also delegated men to
issue certificates for them and much
of the time with only one membcr of
the board present. As the books now
stand, with all of the foreg'oing. irreg
ularities, they contain nearly 5.000)
names.
"We feel well assured that our Pe
itio cotains asuficient number of
tile ga Iifid viters e ca11 te elec
lion and u'l rt hermore it it ever comles
to a vote we are sure that our efforts
will be crowned with success. The
county supervisor and the majority
of the board of registration have
thrown their personal influence and
the weight of their office against the
election."
BIG NAVAL DISPLAY.
Secretary Metcalf Gives Out State
ment, Saying Manoeuvre is not
Political.
Secretary of the Navy Victor H.
Metcalf, in an interview, confirmed
the report that a large part of the
united States navy will be seen in Pa
cific waters next winter. Eighteen or
20 of the largest battleships will come
round Cape Horn on a practice cruise
and will be seen in San Francisco
barbor.
''Many false impressions have
;ained circulation about the move
ment," said Secretary Metcalf. "I
ave held all along that there was
practically no significance to this
movement from a military standpoint.
[ might have stated before leavilng
Washington exactly what I am saviing
low. But I thought that as the news
oncerned the people of the Pacific
oast, today would be an appropriate
:ime to announce the plans.
"It is the policy of the navy de
>artment to keep the fleet in Ameri
an waters as much as possible. It is
ilso our policy to keep as large a
umber of battleships together gs
>ossible. We might as well spend the
noney in. American ports as abroad.
[n the past we have sent squadrons
:o various European nations with less
idvantage than by keeping them at
2ome.
"I have planned this cruise around
ape Horn for the practice of the
quadron. How long the ships will re
nain here I can not say. I can. prom
se the people of Oakland and San
Francisco that they will see one of the
inest :ival spectaelcZ e.er witnessed
n Pacific waters.
"I hope the talk of Japanese trou
les and of international differences
may be dropped by the newspapers.
rhere is nothing to produce any feel
ing except this talk of the newspa
pers. The story that Ambassador Aoki
is in disfavor with his own govern
ent, I beelieve, is purely an inven
tion. I know of no reason why Japan
and the United States should not be
on the friendliest of terms.''
JAS. HENRY RICE.
There is Some Doubt as to His Age.
Made Himself Famous in News
paper Work.
Greenville News.
Mr. James Henry Rice, Jr., who for
the ast half century or more, has
been such a familiar flerure in the
newspap.er life of South Carolina, and
and who is nioW devoting the unabated
neries of his declining years to the
worthy couse of the Audubon society,
was assaulted in Greenville yesterday
by his thirty-ninth brithday. There
are some waic think that it must have
been his thirty-first and others who
;auging their estimates by contem
poraneous historical events within
the memory of the oldest inhabitants,
et it down as the sixty-second. The
records b-aving been destroyed by
Cornwallis the archives are of no avail
and Mr. James Henry Rice will have
to pass for 'being just as old as he
eels and looks which is you.ng, dis
ressingly young. Hence the following
af fusion:
James Henry Rice, James Henry
Rice, since we were first acquent,
The years have swiftly come and gone
and I am old and bent.
Ny scanty locks are silvery o'er, my
step is not apace
With stride .that Time saw fit to set
when we began the race.
For me the staff, the halting gait, a
quiet chimney seat
With phantoms of the past .at play
around my tired feet.
But as for you, James Henry Rice,
your form and face betray
No ;rer-k of time. nor crash of
years to give your age away.
The line .athwart your portly midst
is comfortably taut,
Your eye is clear, your head erect,
the battles you have fought
Iave left you skimpy on the pate,
but steady on your feet.
And you would scorn with fine con
tempt the peaceful chimney seat.
You say that you are only thirty-nine
I reckon sixty-two,
But have it as you will my James,
for after all 'tis true
That as we feel so are we aged, yet
I would ask, forsooth,
Where lies the well from which you
drink the waters of your youth?
Barbecue.
The undersizned will give a first
class barbecue at Bethel Academy,
1: h. Eve~rybdyS is l zi and a
firt elas diniier in every partienlar
is ::uaranteed.
J. A. Graham
H. M. Wicker.
CHARLESTON & WESTERN CAR
OLINA RY.
Schedule in effect June 9th, 1907.
Lv. Newberry(C N & L.) 12:46 p. m.
Ar. Laurens 1:52 p. m.
Lv. Laurens (C. & W. C.) 2:15 p. M. e
Ar. Greenville 3:40 p. m. 2
Lv. Laurens 1:58 p. m.
Ar. Spartanburg 3:30 p. m.
Lv. Spartanburg (So. Ry.) 3:40 p. In.
Ar. Hendersonville 6:25 p. m.
Ar. Asheville 7:30 p. i.
Lv. Laurens (C. & W. C.) 2:00 p. m.
Ar. Greenwood 2:56 p. m.
Ar. McCormiek 3:55 p. in.
Ar. Augusta 5:40 p. m.
Pullman Chair Cars between Au
gusta, Laurens and Asheville, tri
weekly. Leave Augusta Tuesdays.
Thursday and Saturdays ;leave Ashe
ville Mondays, Wednesdays and Fri
days. I
Note: The above arrivals and de
partures, as well as connections with
,>ther companies, are given as infor
mation, and are not guaranteed.
Ernest Williams.
Cen. Pass. Agt.,
Augusta, Ga. C
Geo. T. Bryan,
Greenville, S. C. I
Gen. Agt.,
Arrival and Departure of Trains.
Sche#ules of passenger trains in
and out of the Union Station, New- q
berry, S. C.
Southern Trains. C
No. 15 going west ......8.50 a. m.
No. 12, going east .. .. 10.32 a. m.
No. 19, going west .. ..1.25 p. m.
No. 18, going east .. .. 2.05 p. M.
No. 11, going west .. .. 4.36 p. i.
No. 16, going east .. .. 9.50 p. m.
C., N. & L. Trains.
No. 85, going west .. ..5.19 a. -m.
No. 22, going east .. .. 8.46 a. i.
No. 52, going west .. .. 12.46 p. M.
No. 53, going east .. .... 3.10 p. i.
No. 21, going west......7.25 p. i.
No. 84, going east.. .. 7.25 p. m.
The foregoing schedule is only for
Analytical Vie
Greatest Combination
G omplete Common SE
Greatest Cash and Pai
Insurance Company.
Protectior
~ Afforded.
Non
Forfeiture
Privileges
., Maturity
Settlemen
Special
Privileges
Policies Continuing
on whole Life, limite4
Pacific Mutua
It will pay you to call to see
before taking out a policy.
Office over old Post Office.
if(rnation and is n)t -uaraiteed, is
ubject to change without notice.
G. L. Robinson,
Station Master.
- CHEAP RATES
Via Southern Railway. Jamestown
['er-Centennial Exposition, Norfolk.
a.
On account of the above occasion'
he followinr instructions will gov
rn the sale of round trip tickets to
Torfolk, Va. from Ntwberry, S. C.
Season ticket-$19.55. This ticket
vill be sold daily April 19th to and
neluding November 30th, 1907, final
ate to leave Norflok returning De
ember 15th, 1907.
60 day ticket-$16.30. This ticket
VERYB OD
Almost everybody w
ias some preference in
rhis I recognize. Ther
ikes A Falcon pen, I ha
'olding I have a stiff pe
il and makes a better (
have a special point; f<
>ens that make fine linf
These pens are mad
ize of the gold pen dx
ause as the pen incret
-el increass in ink hc
he whole increases ir
rest, at the first simme
rou wonder what you w!
here is only one thingi
.Macs' B
w of the Comb
af strong Insurance
nse, Practical Policy f<
d up Values Written ir
People's Peerless Poli
f. Cash Weekly Inci
abled by Acciden
2. Cash Weekly Inc
abled by Sicknes:
3. Cash Annual Inc<
disabled by Any (
. 4. Cash Payment, F
sured
5. Cash Annual Inc
turity of policy.
1. Paid-Up Insuranc
2. Extended Insura:
3. Liberal Cash Loa1
4. Automatic Exten
ticipating, by appl)
miums.
5. Change of Occup
indemnity being p:
1. Paid-Up Particip
Dividend.
2. Paid-Up Particip
Value (Reserve at
t 8. Both Reserve ani
4. Life Annuity.
1. Incontestable afte
2. Automatically Nc
3. Policy Re-Instate
lansing.
4. Change of Benefi
5. Policy Transferal
6. Thirty Days Grac
7. Mode of Paying I
8. Conversion of Po
ment forms allowe
9. Policy (Death Bei
annual installment
10. Cost Reduced to
annual or deferred
all of the above excelle
pay or endowment plan,
. Life Insuran
will be soM daily April 19th to and
i!wlidin.g November 30th, 1907. final
date to lea,e Norfolk returning six
ty (60) days from ante of sale and
not lated than december 15th, 1907.
Fifteen day ticket-$14.30. This
ticket iwlI be sold daily April 19th
to and including November 30th;
1907. final date to leave Norfolk re
turning fifteen (15) days from date
of sale.
Coach Excusion ticket-$8.55. This
ticket is not god in sleeping, Pull
man, or Parlor cars, and will be sold
on Tuesday of each week during per
iod of the exposition, final dat to
leave Norfolk returning ten (10)
days from date of sale.
For routes, stop-overs, etc., write
or call on us.
r WRITES!
rites differently. Each
the selection of A Pen.
efore, for the man who
ve a Falcon; for Mani
n that.writes like a pen
:opy; for Stenographers
>r Bookkeepers I have
)s and deposit little ink.
e in all sizes, and the
atermines the price: bew
ses in size the bar bar
Iaing capacity and the
price. Off goes your
r of hot weather. Then
JI do with your pen; why
o do. Buy a penholder.
ook Store.
ination Policy*
Feature Ever 'Devised.
or the Insured with the
i the Policy of Any Life.
cy. . . .
>me, if Totally or Partially dis
t (52 weeks).- .
ome, if Totally or Partially. dis
3 (52 weeks).
>me, if Totally or Permanently
Iause (Ten Years).
ace of Pocicy, upon death of in
ie-Old age benefit after ma
e, after third year.
rie, after thIrd year.
is, after second year.
sion .of Insurance, fully par
ring reserye to payment of pre
ition, automatically adjusted~
Lid accordingly.
ating Insurance and Cash
atlng Insurance, for entire
Ld Dividend).
I Dividend Values In Cash.
r first year.
in-Lapsing, after third year. 4
d, within one year after date of
eiary on request of insured.
ble for Assignment.
e allowed for premium payment. ~
'remiums changed on request.
lcy into other life or endow
iefit) payable In one sum or In
minimum by liberal dividends,
nt features issued
exclusively by the
ce Company'
F NORRIS,
Gn. Ag o niounth Caolina.